“I didn’t know we were having a party,” she said, boring her eyes into her sisters who wore matching smirks and the looks of traitors who should have given her a warning… AGAIN.
Their mama, ever the hospitable hostess, wrapped her arm around Ginny and pulled her into her side. “Oh, Virginia. It's no party. It’s just a simple family gatherin’,” she said, her spare arm gesturing out dramatically to the porch attendants.
Every eye turned to Ryan, who was notablynotfamily.
Ginny whisper-hissed in her mama’s ear, “I know you are up to somethin’.”
Her mama opened her mouth, shock and dismay and a little bit of mischief in her countenance. “I don’t know what you could possibly mean by that, Virginia Maple. Georgia asked if she might look through some old photos tonight for all that Bicentennial Homecomin’ business. We thought it might be nice to get the whole gang together to go through the photo collection. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Georgia answered far too sweetly.
Ginny placed her hands on her hips. “The whole gang, huh? Then where’s Blaire?”
“She said somethin’ about sneeze-peein’ right as we were leaving practice,” Ryan spoke up and had the decency to look apologetic about his surprise invitation. “You’d already left.”
“See,” her mama clapped her hands, “there ya have it. Blaire was just too pregnant to join us. Babies are a blessing, aren’t they? Now, I’d like ya to go say hello to Gus Gus and our guestwhile I fix supper.” She patted Virginia’s backside and pulled the Colonel along with her into the house.
Ginny narrowed her eyes. “Hello Gus,” she said, receiving an unpleasant hiss as the ferocious feline rolled over and displayed his haunches for the whole porch to see. Used to his antics, Ginny turned her face to Ryan, “Hello, guest.”
“Don’t you mean, stiff-necked fart face?” Georgia asked, eyes gleaming and holding Caroline’s son, Simon, on her lap.
Theo promptly began singing, “Fart face. Fart face. Fart face,” and danced between the adults with Davey at his heels, chanting along.
“Alright,” Griffin grabbed Theo up under his arm by the waist and Lake did the same, scooping up a delighted Davey. “I think that’s about enough of that. Let’s go play in the yard while your mama and Aunt Georgie impose on other people’s business.”
“We aren’t imposin’,” Georgia said. “We invited our friend to dinner and dominoes.”
“I seem to remember dominoes bein’ a family only invite.” Lake raised his eyebrows but couldn’t pass off the look he gave to Georgia as anything less than pure adoration. “No offense, Ry.”
“He’s more like family anyways,” Caroline echoed their older sibling’ stance.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “He’ssittin’ right here.” He jumped up and followed the guys down the front porch stairs. “Mind if I join y’all? The Remillard girls obviously have some stuff to work out, and I don’t necessarily wanna be privy to it all.”
“‘Course, fart face,” Theo said, but slipped his hand into Ryan’s.
Ginny’s heart pitter-pattered with annoyed affection as she watched them skip off to play on the lawn, where heaps of leaves were ready to be jumped in. She whipped her head around to her sisters. “You!”
They both cackled but settled into seats on the porch swing. Georgia held out Simon to her like a peace offering. When she took him into her arms, the baby sleepily nuzzled into Ginny’s shoulder, where she kissed his head and found herself bobbing her weight from one foot to the other to keep him happy and lull him into a cozy sleep.
“Don’t think you can distract me with this perfect baby,” she said, voice low. “You told Caroline about… youknowwhat. I told you that in confidence, Georgia.”
“I’m sorry, Gin. Honestly, I didn’t intend to tell Caroline anything. It happened, but I know it was wrong. Forgive me, please?”
Ginny merely glared.
“Why didn’tyoutell me?” Caroline asked. “I thought we told each other everything.”
Ginny stomped her foot, refusing to acknowledge that she would have told Caroline willingly if she’d been at breakfast that morning with Georgia. “Why didn’tyoutell me that Ryan was coming to dinner? Why didn’t you tell me to go home and shower, for goodness sakes? And why… WHY did you bail on karaoke the other night?”
“Virginia,” Georgia said, tone hushed, but solid, much like their daddy’s when he was about to lay some unforeseen, but sage wisdom on one of his children. “I’ve been friends with Ryan for a long time. And for the last three years of that friendship, he has steadily pulled away. Now, I know some of that is on me and life and growin’ up, but I suspect most of it, my sweet sister, is due to the fact that he can’t reconcile the way he feels about you.”
“Georgie… we talked about this,” Ginny said, feeling defensive and too afraid to hope, despite the way he’d looked at her in the office. The way she thought—if they hadn’t been rudely interrupted by what Ginny later learned was a childvomiting in the gym during Ryan’s lunch break—that Ryan might’ve been craving more than chocolate chip cookies.
Caroline tucked one leg under the other and pushed off from the ground with her bare foot, rocking the swing gently. “We’ve all seen it, Ginny. Even if Georgia hadn’t told me, I’ve seen the way you look at him. And, I think… I think Ryan is just so settled in his ways, he can’t figure out how to acknowledge his attraction. And it’s more than that—”
“Guys, I know. I get it, alright? I’ve been here before,” Ginny interrupted. “Longer than you both have, thank you very much.” Ginny swayed now, feeling Simon’s small body relax into her. “I’ve waited for a long time for him to see me. To look at me as more than your baby, tagalong sister. But it’s gonna be awful hard to know whether he is actually interested in pursuin’ me of his own accord if my dang family and friends won’t stop tricking him into it.”
“Friends?” Georgia asked.
